As The World Falls Down
by Sokorra Lewis
Summary: An investigation gone wrong and a dream that everyone seems to be having causes some members of the team to make some changes in their lives. Some forced, some chosen.


A/n: I blame the creation of this fic on the Labyrinth Soundtrack, the Slipper & the Rose, Twones, Army Wives and writer's block on WK's sequel.

And this was actually beta'd before I published it:)

* * *

_L__ady Kate stood in the middle of the dance floor, watching as people in masks danced around her. The energy in the air was addicting and she couldn't help but smile. She herself was masked in a forest green mask, which matched the ball gown she wore. It was strapless and tight till the waist, where it then fell into a full skirt. It was trimmed with shiny beads and gems, particularly around her top. Her hair was held back and up by rhinestone barrettes, leaving most of her hair to fall down her back in soft curls. She felt like a princess in some kind of fairy tale. The look was completed with a simple emerald drop pendent necklace with matching earrings._

_The room too had a fairy tale feel. The majority of the room was the dance floor, with tables for dining and conversing set off to the side. It was decorated in various shades of white and sprinkles of gold, leaving the room have a cloud like appearance. It was lit by a multitude of candles and candelabras whose light reflected off of various strings of rhinestones. Everyone in the room was in a mask, hiding their identities._

_At the far end of the room was a raised platform on which two figures sat. A tall man with silver hair sat to the left, his hand clasped in the middle with the redheaded woman on the right. It was not hard to figure out their identities, if only by the way they sat, and the way they looked at each other. They were the regents holding this ball._

_Off to the side she noticed a few others she could recognize by their mannerisms. She saw as the young woman in black mesmerized her dark-blonde companion. A little further off a exotic looking beauty and a not so exotic older man, both seemingly in a deep discussion and probably the only ones in the room not having part of the jubilant mood. She looked around further but couldn't find the one she was looking for._

_"Looking for me?" She spun around and found him standing behind her, his trademark smirk in place. Though half his face was blocked by black mask he wore, she could still tell instantly who it was. There was only one person who would look like at her like that. And no one who could equally annoy her and delight her in the same time span._

_"What makes you think that?" As they conversed, they began to join the others in dancing._

_"Who else would you be looking for?" He said as if there was no doubt that Kate wouldn't be looking for another dance partner. He was right of course. Time had long since passed since she felt the need to find someone else._

_"Well, you never know." That was their relationship. Deny how much they meant to each other. Make it sound like they were only together out of lack of adequate alternatives. "Rumor is that you yourself have found another dance partner. Perhaps I was simply finding a replacement partner." It amused her, the look on his face at that statement. He would of course respond to the first half, but his face responded to the second half first. A look full of pre-emptive jealousy._

_"Any takers?" He surprised her with that question. It was a question he would ask, but usually after a few moments of banter about his own choices amongst the female occupants of the room. She didn't need to look to know there were quite a few applicants._

_"Sir Dwayne appears to be interested."_

_"Of course he is." That statement was accompanied by him pushing her away so he could have a long look down her body. She responded with her patented look that told him he better stop right there. His customary grin replaced the leer and he pulled her back close to him, actually closer than before and started dancing again. "And I am sure Lord Harrison also made an attempt." The jealousy was still alive in his eyes, but it was tempered with humor._

_"How could he not," she teased. "And how is Lady Miranda?" She decided not to attack the most virulent rumors about his new mistress. Miranda was one rumor. Princess Ziva was a more painful possibility._

_"I believe she is quite happy with her husband, Derek Winslow." He twirled her around and brought her close again. "And you should know better, Katie love, that to believe rumors and assumptions."_

_"And what am I assuming, my liege." It wasn't often she took time to point out his title. His ego was big enough as it was. He needed someone who didn't see him as the crown prince first. He raised a brow at the mention, but said nothing till he leaned forward and could say it into her ear._

_"That I could choose any woman when I have you." She paused in her dancing and looked up at him, straight into his eyes. They were standing a few feet away from a doorway onto a cool balcony. The wind blew in and was playing with a few strands of her hair that had come loose. He pushed a piece of it behind her ear, and lingered. For a few seconds they were caught in the moment before he leaned down and kissed her._

_As he pulled her close, the clock nearby struck midnight._

* * *

Kate Todd woke up with a start. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to figure where she was, and disengaged herself from the dream she was having. She was on pale beige couch. The lights were down low and look around she spotted a small girl sprawled across a bean bag fast asleep while the menu music played for Labyrinth. She remembered then that she had offered to help Tony babysit his half-sister Bethany that night. Blinking, she rolled off the couch.

And onto Tony DiNozzo. Who had been asleep till she fell on him, and awoke to find her accidentally straddling him. Despite this, his only comment was a noise that told her he was still half asleep.

"Why are you on the floor?" she asked, sitting up. She ended up sitting on his legs as he set up.

"You were on the couch." She rolled her eyes and looked at her phone that was

"It's midnight, Tony." He looked at her in an adorable mix of confusion and drowsiness.

"Either I just slept though an entire year and its new years and you need someone to kiss you, or you are about to become a pumpkin, which in that case I can't help you." He paused. "However if it's the first, I'd be glad to take up the role."

"Like that would happen." At least not when she was conscious. She couldn't help the dreams. "What I meant was that we should put your sister in an actual bed. When is your Dad picking her up tomorrow?" Tony and his father had been trying to repair their relationship the last couple of months. Kate was helping Tony through it by being his sounding board. Like when Tony had found out he had a sister who he never knew about. Bethany was eight years old, and apparently one of Papa DiNozzo's ways of bonding with his son was dropping his little princess off at his son's house whenever he had a meeting in DC. Bethany thankfully wasn't too bad. She and Kate had bonded over fantasy movies and icky boys and had ended up watching _The Last Unicorn_ and _Labyrinth._

"Um, seven I think," he mumbled into her shoulder. She was still sitting on his legs so until she got up he couldn't. So he just leaned into her. She imagined it wasn't that comfortable for him, but she mind so much. However, she pushed him away as was their way with things as if she wouldn't want him touching her. And then stood up, and helped him up.

"We should put Beth in a real bed then."

"Yeah I suppose so." He started to walk towards his sister. "Think I should just carry her or wake her up?"

"Can you pick her up?" He gave her a look, and picked his sister up, somehow managing to not wake her. "I'll get us something to drink while you are at that." While Tony took her to the guest room, Kate went into the kitchen. She made a mental note to tell him he needed a more varied diet. All that was in his fridge was a half pint of milk, a box of eggs, some lemonade and beer. Clearly the man didn't understand that one needed to eat more than eggs and cereal. At least breakfast would be taken care of. She chose the lemonade, knowing that not only was there a child in the house they had to deal with Gibbs in the morning. And Gibbs should not be around when you have a hangover of any size. Not that they would get that drunk.

She sat on the counter and wanted for Tony to come back. While she waited she went over her dream or what she could remember of it. She knew a good portion of it was because she had been watching Labyrinth when she fell asleep. The ball, the decorations, even the atmosphere of the dream had seemed like it was from that movie.

The people however were from her real life. And somehow her subconscious had made Tony a prince. Granted he still acted like Tony. Gibbs was the King, which he would love to know, with Jen as his Queen (as if there was any doubt). McGee was the same in the dream as he was in real life; happily waiting on Abby's every word. Ziva was there, and it was anyone's guess why her brain had supplied Fornell.

The point was that the main star of her dream was Tony. He had stepped into the role of Prince Charming, and she into a Lady of the Court. And he hadn't been that different from Real!Tony, except for a bit more romantic in nature. But then she knew Tony could be romantic. He just wasn't trying to be for her. This was partially her fault. After all she had made it quite clear she wasn't interested in such a situation. Though he knew it was just a front.

Suddenly an idea came to Kate's mind. It was slightly evil and slightly scary. What if she broke the status quo? She knew he wanted something more, he knew she wanted something more. But they were too much into this rut they had been building the last few years. So what she took that scary step and broke down the wall? She sipped at her lemonade as she heard Tony returning to the kitchen, planning how she would accomplish the goal set before her.

As was common in their relationship, Tony had no respect for personal space. He stepped right up to her to get his lemonade that sat on the counter beside her. He was standing between her legs, but far enough out that it could be claimed he was just standing there, but close enough to be used for flirting.

This played into her plan. As he drank the lemonade, she moved her feet so they would hold him in position. He didn't seem to notice, or thought the feet on the back of his calves was another part of their game. When he leaned in slightly, she knew he thought the latter. She just smirked and reached up for his glass and placed it on the counter. She reached up and pulled him down by his collar and kissed him and kissed him well.

At first Tony didn't respond caught off guard by both the fact that Kate had kissed him and being pulled slightly off balance, which now had him leaning on the counter between her legs. Once the shock wore off, he joined in. He was pretty sure he must have fallen asleep because in normal time there was no way that Kate would have kissed him like that.

Sadly the kiss ended too soon. Tony cursed his lessened lung capacity as he stood there, his hands on Kate's hips, hers still laying on his shoulders, playing with the hair at the back of his neck. Their foreheads touched and he was able to look into her eyes, although at this close distance it hurt his eyes, so he just closed them.

"That was unexpected."

"It was meant to be."

"I thought no amount of liquor on this planet would make this happen?"

"Never said anything about Lemonade." She kissed him again, this time short and leaned back against the cabinet behind her. "I'm tired of the circles we keep dancing Tony. I think four years is enough, don't you?"

"I thought one year was enough, Katie." She didn't correct him on the nickname. She didn't mind it from him so much (especially when he said it like that and less like she was a ten year old girl, like her brothers did), and even if she did, he would continue to use it. "Is this a onetime thing you are going to hate me tomorrow?"

"No. At least I hope not. Do you want it to be?" She started to worry that perhaps Tony _had_ only been teasing her. Maybe he had no real interest in her beyond a close friendship. But that kiss had told her otherwise. And Kate was an optimist.

"Do I want you to regret it? No. Do I want to go to work tomorrow and spend most of the day with you angry at me? No, not really. Do I want to kiss you again? Hell, yes." He kissed her this time. "I can't do this as a onetime thing, Kate. Not with you." Kate always suspected that Tony was the closet romantic. That when he committed to something, he committed. But until then he dated girl after girl. So she knew what he was saying was more than _let's give it a try._ If she said yes to this he was asking for the long term. This would not be a causal fling between friends.

"It's not." He moved a piece of hair behind her ear. "If our platonic behavior is anything to go by, I don't think we'd last long as casual anyway." There was more to that then the surface. Their 'platonic' behavior for one had never really been truly platonic. And they would push and pull at each other until they knew the other would snap. It was only then they would step back. They were each other's balance. He kept her from letting her perfectionist tendencies run her off a cliff, and she kept him going forward when he really just wanted to stop. It was what made them good as work partners.

She wondered if that extended to other forms of 'partner'. She's pretty sure it will. Given how their arguments lately have been edged with just enough tension that if they hadn't been at work and hadn't been stuck in the stupid cycle of behavior, she has no doubts as to where that would have gone. There had been an argument the week before that had gotten heated and had ended with them standing in each other's space, staring at each other. It wasn't till Gibbs head smacked them both that they remembered that they had an audience. Abby had told her later that they had sparks coming off of them visible to anyone who had been at NCIS for even just a month. She hadn't argued because even she had felt the heat that time, and that had been when her urge to break the cycle started. Something had to break before they ended up burning each other.

"It's late, so let's just go to bed and finish this in the morning." He helped her off the counter and led her to his room. When they got under the covers she was surprised when he didn't make a move to continue what they had started in the kitchen, instead he wrapped his arms around her and nestled his head in her shoulder.

There had to be something wrong in the universe if Tony DiNozzo was choosing the 'wait till we talk' path when she wanted to flip him and take things in decidedly non innocent way.

* * *

This will be continued (both the dream world and the real world) in a second part in Abby's POV. And don't worry, the fluff will be tempered with a touch of angst.


End file.
